Elmhurst Car Chase Ends In Crash

There is little doubt in authorities' minds that Jose Hernandez Saenz's domestic struggle on Tuesday afternoon ignited an abduction and car chase that ended when he deliberately drove head-on into a semi-truck near Bensenville. On Tuesday night, he, a woman companion and a 3-week-old baby were fighting for their lives.

Much of the rest remains a mystery in their minds.

"There's a whole lot of what ifs in this case," Elmhurst Police Deputy Chief Peter Smith said Tuesday. "I think it's going to take a lot of leg work. There's just a lot of unanswered questions right now."

Investigators said they were unsure why Saenz, 28, a Mexican national who they said is unable to speak English, was in the U.S. The severity of the woman's injuries has prevented detectives from speaking with her. She was tentatively identified as a 22-year-old resident of Berwyn. The baby boy also remained unidentified.

Police were uncertain what led to the conflict that erupted on the front lawn of an Elmhurst home shortly after 1 p.m. and were waiting for Saenz and the woman to recover before filing criminal charges.

Saenz, the woman and baby were in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. Saenz suffered a head injury and abdominal injuries, a spokeswoman said. The abducted woman suffered head, chest and abdominal wounds, officials said, and both were undergoing surgery Tuesday night.

Authorities said the baby boy was expected to recover.

Authorities said the drama began at 1:08 p.m. in the driveway of Martha Deatsch's home at Kenilworth Avenue and Lake Street in Elmhurst. She said she looked out her kitchen window and saw a dark blue Chevette parked in the driveway.

Deatsch said a woman carrying an infant carrier with a newborn inside and a man walked across Deatsch's side lawn toward a U.S. Postal Service truck parked along the curb. The woman began speaking with the postal carrier, but the man shoved her.

When Deatsch saw him shove her a second time, she dialed 911. Deatsch said that while she watched and waited, the assailant grabbed the woman and infant carrier and shoved them into the back seat of the parked car. He climbed through the passenger seat and slid behind the steering wheel.

At the same time, the postal carrier moved his truck to partly block the car's access to Lake Street, Deatsch said. An Elmhurst squad car barreling south along Kenilworth turned the wrong direction into Lake Street for a few feet, then turned back west and tried to cut off the Chevette before it reached Lake Street but was a few seconds too late, Deatsch said.

Saenz led police to Illinois Highway 83, where he turned north, Smith said. When traffic slowed at the stoplight at 3rd Avenue, Saenz swerved around cars and into the southbound lanes, Smith said.

Glen Mehrer, 41, of St. Louis, a meat and produce truck driver who was driving south, saw the Chevette and applied his brakes. Another car moved to the shoulder, Mehrer said. Just as the truck was easing to a stop in the center lane, the Chevette struck it head on, the truck driver said.

"I didn't have a chance to move over, and he ran right into me," Mehrer said. "The left lane was clear and he had an opportunity to not even run into me."

Smith said police officers in pursuit during the 6-mile chase believe Saenz deliberately directed the car into the truck because Saenz was driving at a manageable 35 m.p.h. to 40 m.p.h. and had plenty of room to maneuver around the truck on either side, and the truck had nearly stopped. The officers reported seeing the woman in the back seat struggling with Saenz during the chase, Smith said.

Mehrer was uninjured in the crash, which crushed the front end of the car and pinned Saenz in the seat. Paramedics and firefighters used extraction equipment to remove him.

The license plates on the car Saenz was driving were registered to a Berwyn woman, but it could not be confirmed if she was the woman injured in the crash. State records showed the license plate registered to a 1989 Plymouth 4-door hatchback.